Fuel-economizing device for internal-combustion engines



Jul 10, 1923. 1,461,659

. J c. HENRY FUEL ECONOMIZING DEVICE FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed April 19. 1920 wzwamwaw Patented July 10, 1923.

ururaa stares JAMES C. HENRY, OF EAST ST. LOUIS, ILLINOIS.

FUEL-ECONOMIZING DEVICE FOR INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINES.

Application filed April 19, 1920. Serial No. 375,030.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. HENRY, a citizen of the United States, residing at East St. Louis, Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fuel- Economizing Devices for Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to fuel economizing devices of the kind that are used on internal combustion engines.

One object of my invention. is to provide a device thatwill atomize or break up the larger globules of fuel contained in a mixture of fuel and air passing from a carburetor to the intake of an internal combustion engine.

Another object is to provide a fuel economizer for internal combustion engines that will heat the mixture supplied by the carburetorand tear up the particles of fuel that have not been vaporized in passing through the carburetor.

And still another object is to provide a combined fuel economizer and manifold structure for internal combustion engines that can be manufactured at a low cost and easily applied to an engine.

To this end I have devised a fuel economizing device that is adapted to be arranged between the intake valves of the cylinders of an internal combustion engine and the carburetor and which is equipped with a passageway of such form that the mixture supplied by the carburetor will flow through said passageway and any large globules of fuel in said mixture will be completely vaporized or broken up before the mixture reaches the cylinders of the engine. Inthe preferred form of my invention, as herein illustrated, the vaporizing passageway of the device is in the form of a narrow elongated slot and means is provided for increasing and diminishing the effective area of said slot so as to vary the supply of combustible mixture used to operate the engine. The vaporizing passageway just referred to through which the mixture travels, in passing from the carburetor to the intake, forms the outlet of a chamber which is so arranged that it will be maintained in a highly heated condition by metallic conduction from the combusting gases of the engine, and while the particular details of construction of the device are immaterial, so far as my broad idea is concerned, I prefer to combine the economizer with a manifold structure provided with portions through which the exhaust gases escape and portions through which the mixture is supplied to the cylinders so as to form an inexpensive device that can be easily applied to an engine.

A device of the construction above described efiects a great saving in the quantity of fuel used to operate an internal combustion engine, due to the fact that it vaporizes and thus utilizes the larger globules of fuel that have not been vaporized in passing through the carburetor; it insures practically complete combustion in the cylinders of the engine, resulting in greater efliciency and the elimination of carbon, and it enables a lower grade of fuel to be successfully used, due to the fact that it thoroughly atomizes fuel which is too heavy to be vaporized in an ordinary carburetor.

Figure 1 of the drawings is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a fuel economizer constructed in'accordance with my invention. I

Figure 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view, taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Figure 3 is a horizontal longitudinal sectional view, taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction indicated by the arrow.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the valve or governing element that is used to vary the effective length of the vaporizing passageway; and

Figure 5 is a vertical sectional view, illustrating an electric heating unit arranged in the vaporizing passageway.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate the preferred form of my invention, A designates a passageway through which the mixture supplied by a carburetor (not shown) travels to the intake ports B of an internal combustion engine, and C designates a chamber arranged at some point between the carburetor and the intake ports through which the mixture passes before entering the cylinders of the engine. The chamber C is provided with an exit 1 in the form of a narrow elongated slot of such width as to insure vaporization of any globules of fuel in the mixture passing through said slot, thereby effectively breaking up any particles of fuel that have not been vaporized in passing through the carburetor. In the form of my invention herein shown the chamber C is substantially wedge-shaped in cross section, or, in other words, is narrower at its upper end than at its lower unva-porized particles ofgfuel to be split up or divided into minute particles before entering the cylinders of the engine.

' I' prefer, to combine the chamber C and vaporizing passageway 1 with a manifold structure through which the exhaust gases from the engine escape so as to maintain said-chamber and passageway in a highly heated condition, when the engine is in operation. Therefore, I have hereinillustrated the chamber C combined with an exhaust manifold provided with an exhaust passageway or chamber D that completely surrounds the chamber C, the exhaust gases from the engine being admitted to the chamber D through ports 2 and said exhaust gases thereafter discharged from the chamber '1) through an outlet opening 3, as shown in Figure 1. The inlet ports B communicate with a chamber E in said manifold which is in direct communication with thechamber C through the vaporizing passageway 1, and the passageway A through which the mixture is supplied from the carburetor leads directly; into the lower end of the chamber C. The carburetor can either be connected directly toa flanged at the lower end of the passageway A, or the carburetor can be secured to an elbow or other suitable connecting device 5 arranged at the lower end of the mixture passageway'A.

In order that the effective area of the chamber C and of the vaporizing passage way 1 may be varied at the will of the operator in charge of the engine, I have ar ranged a valve or controlling element F in the chamber C in such a manner that the length of the elongated slot -1 can be increased or diminished by moving the valve Fin one direction or'the other. The valve F herein illustrated is substantially wedgeshaped in form, as shown in Figure 4, so that it will conform to the cross-sectional shape of the chamber C, and a tongue 6 is provided at the upper end of said valve that projects upwardly through the elongated slot 1 inthe top wall of the chamber C. The lower end of the valve F is connected to a horizontally-disposed shaft or spindle 7, thus enabling the'upper end of the valve F to be rocked towards and away from the left hand end of the slot 1, so as to increase or diminish the-effective length of said slot.

The tongue 6 on the valve F operates to dislodge any substance that collects in the slot 1, thus enabling the vaporizing passageway 1 of the device to be kept clean. The shaft 7 that constitutes the stem ofythe valve F is provided with an arm 8,. as shown in Figure 2, to which a suitable controlling mecha nism' can be connected. Preferably, the

valve F is provided with packing devices 9 of asbestos or other suitable material arranged in the sealing edges of same, so as to form vtight joints between the valve F and the side walls of the chamber C.

I have herein illustrated the chamber C; t

provided with a removable front wall or side portion 10, that is retainedin position by fastening devices 11, and have shown the exhaust, passageway D of the exhaust manifold provided witha remo-vab-le'front 1 chamber so as to form a tight joint between said parts and also provide a convenient means for varyingthe width of the passageway 1 so as to adapt the device to the par ticular fuel used by. substituting gaskets 11: of different thicknesses. v v

If desired, the economizer can be equipped with means for heating the vaporizing passageway prior to chat the beginning of the operation of the engine, so as to facilitate starting the engine in cold weather. Therefore, in Figure 5 of the drawings I have shown the economizer equipped with an electric heating device consisting of an electric heating element 13 imbedded in onewall of the elongated slot l -that formsthe exit of the chamber C. I c

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as neW-anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is: c 1. An attachment for internal combustion engines, consisting of adevice provided with a narrow elongated slot through which the mixture supplied by the carburetor passes before enteringthe cylinders of the engine, means i for heating the mixture passing through said.device-,and means for enabling the ef ective length of said slotto be varied when the engine is in operationiso as to increase or diminish thesupply of combustible mixture to the engine;

2. A fuel economizing device for internal combustion engines provided with a chamber through which the mixture supplied by the carburetor travels before reaching the cylinders of the engine, said chamber hav ing an exit in the form of a narrow elongated slot of substantially arc form.

3. A fuel economizing device for internal combustion engines provided with a chamber through which the mixture supplied by the carburetor travels before reaching the cylinders of the engine, said chamber being of substantially wedge shape in cross section and provided with an arc-shaped wall equipped with a narrow elongated slot that constitutes the exit of said chamber.

4. A fuel economizing device for internal combustion engines provided with a chamber arranged so that the mixture supplied by the carburetor will enter said chamber, an exit from said chamber formed by a narrow elongated slot in one wall of said chamber and means for varying the effective length of said slot and for dislodging any substance that collects in said slot.

5. A fuel economizing device for internal combustion engines provided with a chamber arranged so that the mixture supplied by the carburetor will travel through said chamber before entering the cylinders of the engine, said chamber being of susbtantially wedge shape in cross section and provided with a curved top wall equipped with a narrow elongated slot, a pivotally mounted valve in said chamber that enables the area or capacity of said chamber to be varied, and a tongue on said valve that projects through the slot in the top wall of said chamber.

6. A fuel economizing device for internal combustion engines provided with a vaporizing passageway in the form of a narrow elongated slot through which the mixture supplied by the carburetor travels in passing to the cylinders of the engine, and means for varying the effective length of said slot without altering the width of same.

7. An attachment for internal combustion engines, consisting of a manifold structure having passageways through which the exhaust gases from the engine escape, and a passageway through which the mixture supplled by the carburetor travels, a chamber in said structure forming part of the passageway through which the mixture travels and arranged so that it will be heated by the exhaust gases, said chamber being of substantially wedge shape in cross section and provided with a curved top wall having a narrow elongated slot therein, and means for enabling the effective length of said slot to be varied.

8. A fuel economizing device for internal combustion engines provided with a chamber arranged between the carburetor and the cylinders of the engine and provided with a narrow elongated slot that forms the exit of said chamber, and an electric heating element arranged in proximity to said slot for heating the mixture passing to the cylinders of the engine.

9. An attachment for internal combustion engines, consisting of a device provided with a narrow elongated slot through which the mixture supplied by the carburetor passes before entering the cylinders of the engine, and means for varying the effective length of said slot.

10. A fuel economizing device for internal combustion engines provided with a vaporizing passageway in the form of a narrow elongated slot through which the mixture supplied by the carburetor travels in passing to the cylinders of the engine, means for varying the effective length of said slot, and an independent means for enabling the width of said slot to be varied.

JAMES C. HENRY. 

